Truck with valuables worth Rs 5 crore looted

Ahmedabad: Gold and silver plates worth around Rs 5 crore were looted from a truck belonging to a courier firm near Ahmedabad, with police launching massive search operations across the state to nab the culprits.

The incident took place near Bhayla village on Bagodara-Bavla state highway in Ahmedabad rural police limit late last night when the mini truck, carrying valuables including gold and silver from Ahmedabad to Rajkot, was intercepted at the highway.

At least five looters, two in a car and three stationed on the highway to stop the truck, managed to transfer 25 cartons from the truck to the car before the police could arrive, Ahmedabad (Rural) police Nirlipt Rai said.

When the owner of Ishwar Bechar Angadia courier firm, found through the GPS system fit in the truck that the vehicle was halting at an isolated place, he contacted the driver, and upon failing to contact him, he rang up the police.

“He called up the police which reached in a short time, giving the robbers only time enough to take away 25 cartons, which carried valuables worth Rs 5 crore,” said Rai.

An armed security personnel travelling along with the driver and cleaner of the courier firm could not do much when the truck was intercepted by the looters, he said.

Rai said that five different teams of police have been formed and a massive search operation has been launched to nab the looters.

“We have formed five teams of personnel from Crime Branch Special Operations Group (SOG), Local Crime Branch (LCB) and Rural Police and they are using mobile technology, CCTV footages and details of toll booths across the state to detect the crime,” he said.

At around the same spot in 2013, another angadia truck belonging to the same carrier was looted of materials worth around Rs 25 crore, Rai said. “Police had managed to trace them in Mehsana and Banaskanhta through a combined operation by rural LCB,” he said.